Saradha Scam: Special Court Refuses Anticipatory Bail Plea By Rajeev Kumar, For Whom Mamata Banerjee Sat On ‘Dharna’

Former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s anticipatory bail plea in the Saradha chit fund case was not accepted on Tuesday (17 September) by a special court in West Bengal’s Barasat, reported The Indian Express.

Special Court Judge Sanjib Talukdar refused to hear the application stating it did not come under his jurisdiction and told Kumar to turn to the Barasat district sessions court. Kolkata top cop had sought relief in the on-going investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in ponzi scheme scam.

Earlier on Monday, he did not appear before the CBI for interrogation escaping it for the second time, after which the agency sought information on his whereabouts from the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary of West Bengal.

The refusal of this plea comes days after his protection from custodial interrogation was lifted by the Calcutta High Court paving way for the CBI to question him.

Kumar, currently the Additional Director General of Police in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), is accused of tampering with evidence before the Supreme Court gave Saradha scam case to the CBI.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in February this year, had sat on a two-day dharna to prevent her close aide Rajeev Kumar’s interrogation by the CBI. She claimed her protest was to ‘save constitution’.